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Subject:

ORV Zone at Assateague

From:

Stan Arnold

Reply-To:

Stan Arnold

Date:

Sun, 5 Jun 2005 20:48:45 -0400

Hi Folks,

This morning (Sun., 5 June) Elaine and I were accompanied by Bill Hubick for
a drive down the Off-Road-Vehicle Zone on Assageague Island.  A lot of
people there, but also a lot of birds.  Highlight was an unprecedented
number of LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULLs--SIXTEEN total in the following
plumages:  1 adult, 2 third year, 2 second year, and eleven juveniles.  Nine
of these birds were together in one group, standing near Great Black-backed
Gulls for easy comparison.  Bill got photos of almost all of these birds,
several of them with the Great Black-backeds for nice contrast.  He'll be
posting some photos to his website soon.  Also of note were good numbers of
RED KNOTs.  The last mile of the zone was closed (to protect the nesting
plovers and terns--hooray!), and it was tough to scope the birds near the
Va. state line due to the heat shimmer.

The tally:

N. Gannet--2 dark juveniles off shore
DC Cormorant--about 5 flybys
Glossy Ibis--1 flying
Osprey--1
Black-bellied Plover--7 or 8, all but one in a flying flock
Killdeer--1 flyover
Am. Oystercatcher--11
Willet--many
WHIMBREL--2
Ruddy Turnstone--many--in resplendent plumage
RED KNOT--44, all but 4 or 5 in breeding plumage; Bill had 15 more at
Skimmer Island
Sanderling--beaucoups
Semiplamated Sandpiper--1
Laughing Gull--plenty
Ring-billed Gull--6 or 7
Herring Gull--many
LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL--16 (see text above)
Great Black-backed Gull--many
Royal Tern--7-8, mostly at the state line where they were difficult to scope
Common Tern-- 4 or 5
Least Tern--we drove past 2 on the beach; another dozen or more near state
line
Boat-tailed Grackle--plenty

The pelagic trip out of Lewes on Sat. offered some superb looks at some nice
birds.  Kudos to Paul Guris for leading another fine trip, to Mary Gustafson
for her very informative commentary, and to the very able spotters!

Stan Arnold
Glen Burnie